Suez Canal
From Conservapedia
The Suez Canal is a strategic waterway crossing the the isthmus of Suez in Egypt at the narrowest part of the Sinai Peninsula, and links the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The completion of the canal eliminated the need to ships to travel around Africa in order to reach Asia and the East Indies from Europe.
The canal was built by the French Suez Canal Company (Compagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez). Ferdinand de Lesseps completed the canal in 1869 after nearly 11 years work.
Its strategic importance led to the British conquest of Egypt in 1882. The canal came under British protection after The Convention of Constantinople in 1888 as Egypt continued efforts to become independent from the British Empire. Egypt was emancipated by the British in 1922, but remained as a vassal state until after World War Two. Britain had retained a military force at Suez to secure and operate the canal under a 1935 treaty, but in 1951, facing intense internal pressure, the Egyptian King Farouk rescinded the treaty. Farouk was deposed the following year and after a period of instability replaced by Gamal Abdel Nasser. He demanded the full withdrawal of British troops, which began in 1954. The last British troops were removed on June 13, 1956.
In the early 1950s, Nassar sought funding for the Aswan High Dam, a project which would dam the Nile preventing damaging seasonal flooding, and provide hydroelectric power. Initially, the United States had agreed to fund it, but given the expulsion of British troops, the United States was pressured to withdraw support. In retaliation for the United States reneging on their pledge of support, Nassar nationalized the canal in 1956 following the withdrawal of British troops and planned to use funds generated by the canal to fund the dam. He further declared the dam closed to Israeli ships and cargo.
The British, French, and Israelis in collusion responded to this by launching an attack on the canal whereby the Israelis would invade the Sinai Peninsula. The British and French forces planned then to step in and assume control of the canal nominally as a buffer between the two sides. The plan was ruined when Nassar intentionally scuttled ships to block all access to the canal. The potential for an all out war over the canal led to the first United Nations peacekeeping force to be deployed to the Sinai, resulting in the withdrawal of Israeli troops back to prewar borders, and the exit of the British and French forces from the theater. Britain and France agreed when President Eisenhower (upset over the collusion of the British, French, and Israelis without consultation with the US) threatened to dump US reserves of the British pound and French franc which would have ruined the fragile post-war economies of Britain and France. The canal was reopened in 1957, and the Soviet Union agreed to fund construction of the Aswan High Dam.
After the 1967 Arab-Israeli war Israeli forces captured the Sinai Peninsula and the canal was again closed to all shipping by a Egyptian blockade. The canal was briefly recaptured by the Egyptians during the Yom Kippur War, and the Camp David Accords negotiated by Jimmy Carter, resulted in the return of the canal and the Sinai to Egyptian control in return for Egypt formally recognizing Israel. It was reopened in 1975 and in 1979 Egypt began allowing Israeli vessels through the canal.
